An information question replaces one unknown constituent with ко “who,” шта “what,” који “which,” or an interrogative adverb such as где, када, како, зашто. Serbian normally places that questioned constituent first, then positions unstressed auxiliaries and pronouns after it: Кога си видео? “Whom did you see?”
Unlike English, Serbian does not add do/does/did and does not use neutral ли after a wh-word. The question word itself signals the missing information. Its case and preposition come from the grammatical role that the answer will fill.
Ask in the case required by the answer
Compare each question with its answer. The answer and question occupy the same role, so they use the same case or preposition.
| Unknown role | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| subject, nominative | Ко долази? | Милица долази. |
| direct object, accusative | Кога чекаш? | Чекам Милана. |
| recipient, dative | Коме пишеш? | Пишем директорки. |
| companion, с + instrumental | С ким путујеш? | Путујем с колегом. |
| topic, о + locative | О чему разговарате? | Разговарамо о уговору. |
Ко је позвао мајстора? — Комшиница га је позвала.
Who called the repairman? — The neighbor called him.
Кога је мајстор позвао? — Позвао је управника зграде.
Whom did the repairman call? — He called the building manager.
The two questions differ only in grammatical role. Subject ко is nominative; animate object кога is accusative. English colloquial who often hides that distinction, but Serbian cannot.
Коме си послала исправљени рачун? — Послала сам га клијенту.
Who did you send the corrected invoice to? — I sent it to the client. (female speaker)
The full paradigms of ко, шта, and који belong on the interrogative-pronoun page. Here the diagnostic is simple: construct the answer first, then replace its unknown constituent with the corresponding interrogative form.
Keep the preposition with the question word
Serbian normally fronts the whole prepositional phrase. It does not strand the preposition at the end as conversational English can.
За кога сте резервисали ову собу? — За госте из Крагујевца.
Who did you reserve this room for? — For the guests from Kragujevac.
Од чега зависи коначна цена? — Од броја учесника.
What does the final price depend on? — On the number of participants.
Код кога си оставио резервни кључ? — Код сестре.
Who did you leave the spare key with? — With my sister.
English speakers often search for a word-for-word ending like who…for. Serbian packages за кога as one questioned constituent.
Question words normally come first
The neutral order puts the requested information at the left edge:
Коју линију чекамо? — Чекамо двадесет тројку.
Which bus line are we waiting for? — We're waiting for the 23.
Где сте купили ове карте? — Купили смо их на благајни.
Where did you buy these tickets? — We bought them at the ticket office.
Зашто је састанак отказан? — Директорка се разболела.
Why was the meeting canceled? — The director became ill.
Који agrees with an expressed or understood noun: који аутобус, коју линију, које место. Interrogative adverbs do not decline. The lexical distinctions among где, куда, одакле and зашто are developed on the question-and-relative-adverbs page.
An explicit subject pronoun is usually unnecessary because the verb ending identifies the subject. Где радиш? is neutral; Где ти радиш? contrasts you with someone else.
А где ти радиш, ако Ана ради од куће?
And where do you work, if Ana works from home?
Here ти is natural because the speaker contrasts addressees. Without that contrast, it adds needless weight.
Clitics follow the first constituent
An initial question word or full question phrase provides a host for the clitic cluster. Internal cluster order remains unchanged.
Где си га јуче срео?
Where did you run into him yesterday? (male addressee)
Када ћеш ми вратити пуњач?
When will you return my charger to me?
Зашто јој се ниси раније јавио?
Why didn't you contact her earlier? (male addressee)
In где си га, auxiliary си precedes accusative га. In зашто јој се ниси, the dative and reflexive precede the negative auxiliary form. A question does not authorize free rearrangement.
When the questioned phrase contains several words, it normally counts as the first constituent as a unit:
С којим колегом си разговарала после састанка?
Which colleague did you speak with after the meeting? (female addressee)
Do not wedge a clitic into the noun phrase. The detailed calculation belongs on the second-position page.
No do-support and no extra ли
English uses auxiliary inversion or do: What did she buy? Serbian simply uses the appropriate finite form: Шта је купила? The auxiliary је is required by the perfect, not inserted to make a question.
Шта сте нашли у старој фиоци? — Нашли смо гаранцију за фрижидер.
What did you find in the old drawer? — We found the refrigerator warranty.
Neutral ли belongs to polar questions such as Да ли долазиш? or Долазиш ли? It is not added after an interrogative constituent.
Када почиње пријава? — Почиње следећег понедељка.
When does registration begin? — It begins next Monday.
Echo questions and narrow focus
Leaving the interrogative later is possible when the speaker is surprised, did not hear, or challenges one detail. This is an echo question (informal/marked), not neutral information-seeking order.
Рекао си јој шта?
You told her what?
Они путују с ким?
They're traveling with whom?
Strong stress carries the surprise. A contrastively fronted phrase can instead narrow the alternatives: А коме си послао прву верзију? asks specifically about the recipient, perhaps after the sender or document is settled.
Знам ко је написао извештај, али ко га је потписао?
I know who wrote the report, but who signed it?
The position is still clause-initial; discourse determines why this variable is contrasted.
More than one unknown
Serbian permits multiple question words and, in a neutral multiple question, normally brings all of them toward the clause front. A second-position clitic may intervene after the first question word, so је separates ко from коме/шта in the examples below; that does not make the later question word an ordinary postverbal constituent.
Ко је коме послао погрешан документ?
Who sent the wrong document to whom?
Ко је шта наручио за ручак?
Who ordered what for lunch?
These questions can request a list of paired answers. Treat ко је коме... and ко је шта... as useful neutral models. The relative order of several question words and the marked contexts that can license a later question word belong to advanced syntax; the basic pattern is not English-style wh-in-situ.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Recover the case from the answer
Разговарам с новом адвокатицом. — С ким разговараш?
I'm talking with the new lawyer. — Who are you talking with? Answer: с + instrumental in the answer becomes с ким in the question.
Task 2: Neutral or echo?
Шта си купио? — Купио си шта?
What did you buy? — You bought what? Answer: the first is a neutral request; the second is a surprised echo question.
Common Mistakes
Using nominative for every person
❌ Ко тражиш на списку учесника?
Incorrect—the unknown person is the animate direct object, so use accusative кога.
✅ Кога тражиш на списку учесника?
Who are you looking for on the participant list?
Stranding the preposition
❌ Кога разговараш са после предавања?
Incorrect—front the whole phrase с ким; Serbian does not strand са at the end.
✅ С ким разговараш после предавања?
Who are you talking with after the lecture?
Adding English-style support or doubled interrogation
❌ Шта да ли Ана купује сваког петка?
Incorrect—шта already forms the information question; do not add да ли.
✅ Шта Ана купује сваког петка?
What does Ana buy every Friday?
Adding an unnecessary subject pronoun
❌ Где ти тренутно станујеш?
Marked unless ти is contrastive—the verb already identifies ‘you.’
✅ Где тренутно станујеш?
Where are you currently staying?
Key Takeaways
- The question word bears the case and preposition required by the missing answer.
- Neutral information questions normally put the questioned constituent first.
- Clitics follow that first constituent in their ordinary internal order.
- Serbian uses neither English do-support nor an extra neutral ли after a wh-word.
- Later wh-placement marks an echo or surprise; multiple questions commonly leave one wh-expression in situ.
Now practice Serbian
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Interrogative Pronouns: ko, što, kojiA1 — Question pronouns 'who', 'what', 'which' and their cases.
- Question and Relative AdverbsB1 — Kako, gde, kada, zašto as questions and connectors.
- Indirect and Rhetorical QuestionsB1 — Embedded questions with li/da li and rhetorical zar.
- The Second-Position (Wackernagel) RuleB1 — Why clitics land right after the first element of the clause.
- Focus, Contrast, and Final PositionB2 — A focused guide to focus, contrast, and final position in Serbian.
- Choosing the Right Case: A WorkflowB1 — A practical decision procedure for which case a noun should take.